SEO used to be a Google ranking exercise. The updated checklist from Semrush argues that’s no longer the whole job: visibility now also depends on AI-driven surfaces such as Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT. The 43 tasks are grouped into six sections, from basic setup to a dedicated AI search section.
For performance marketers, the practical message is simple. More search surfaces create more places where pages can slip out of view. A checklist turns visibility into a repeatable process rather than guesswork.
What the checklist actually changes
Traditional SEO checklists stop at crawling, keywords, content, and links. This one extends the workflow in two important ways.
- Indexability now feeds AI visibility. Many AI tools use Google to find content. If a page is not indexed by Google, it is less likely to appear in AI-generated answers.
- JavaScript can block AI crawlers. Several AI crawlers do not execute JavaScript. Keeping JavaScript to a minimum helps both page speed and AI readability.
- Mobile-only indexing is non-negotiable. Google moved from mobile-first to mobile-only indexing. Sites that are not accessible on mobile may not be indexed at all.
Where to start this week
If you have limited time, don’t try to complete all 43 tasks in one sitting. The source suggests working through the list in order and returning to less urgent items later. These are the highest-leverage checks for our readers.
Set up monitoring. Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools now surface AI visibility data. GSC has a Generative AI report for AI Overviews and AI Mode; Bing Webmaster Tools has an AI Performance report covering Copilot and AI summaries.
Audit real indexability. A robots.txt file is not the whole story. Meta robots tags, X-Robots-Tag headers, canonical tags, sitemap accuracy, and 4xx/5xx errors can all keep pages out of the index. Blocking AI crawlers in robots.txt can also limit how content is discovered and used in AI answers.
Map keywords and prompts together. The checklist treats AI prompts as another keyword set. Survey customers, read Reddit conversations, and note the exact language people use. Group those prompts with traditional keywords by intent so each page can answer multiple related queries.
The framework behind the list
At its core, the checklist is a crawlability, indexability, relevance system. Get pages accessible to both search engines and AI crawlers. Make them understandable through titles, structured data, and clean URLs. Then prove relevance with content that matches search intent and off-page signals.
One important shift for marketers: AI-driven search may reduce click-throughs because users get answers directly. The checklist suggests paying more attention to what visitors do after they land, not just raw traffic volume.
For D2C and agency teams, this is a useful reset. The steps are not exotic. The difference is treating AI search as an operational requirement instead of a trend to watch.
Source: Semrush Blog
